A low-fat diet feels like a natural choice for losing weight, but completely eliminating certain nutrients over time may not be the answer. In fact, one study concluded that low-fat diets did not have a greater impact on weight loss than diets with higher fat contents. Of the 68,000 participants studied, low-carb diets revealed a similar average weight loss to low-fat diets, showing only a 2.5 pound increase in loss. Over time, nutrient-restricting diets like these tend to drop off after the first year, leading to little or no results. So what goes wrong?Any diet that requires the elimination of nutrients, like fat, needs to fill that void with a healthy substitute to help maintain long-term weight loss. Unfortunately, many low-fats diet programs fill that void with snacks stuffed with sodium and sugar. This can decrease the physical and mental endurance needed to sustain a successful low-fat diet over time. That's why it's important for any nutrient-restricting diet to include a healthy serving of fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamins and minerals. This can help provide the energy and mental focus needed to sustain a successful diet over the long-term.